System and Method for Image Display Enhancement

1. A method for displaying digital images on a display device comprising: (a) obtaining an input image set including at least one input image; (b) processing said input image set to generate an output image set including a plurality of output images, said processing including: (i) generating a first subset of said output images by applying a first image-processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said image-processing transformation causing a luminance distortion to at least one region of said output image relative to the corresponding region of the input image, and (ii) generating a second subset of said output images by applying a second image processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said second image processing transformation being different from said first image processing transformation, said second subset being distinct from said first subset; and (c) displaying said output image set in a sequence on the display device at a frame rate in excess of five frames per second, said sequence including images from said first subset interspaced with images from said second subset, wherein said first and second image-processing transformations and said sequence are chosen such that a time-integrated average luminance in each region of the display over successive frames approximates to the luminance distribution of a corresponding region of said input image set.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second image processing transformation is a luminance correction function for said first image processing transformation chosen such that, for a given input image, an average of output images generated by said first and second image processing transformations is a faithful reproduction of the given input image.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said sequence includes alternating output images from said first and said second subsets.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein said processing includes generating a third subset of said output images by applying a third image processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said third image processing transformation being a luminance-preserving transformation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second image processing transformation is a luminance-preserving transformation, said sequence including a majority of frames from said second subset of output images and a minority of frames from said first subset of output images.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said input image set includes only a single input image.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said displaying includes repeating said sequence multiple times.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said input image set includes a plurality of input images making up a video sequence.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said video sequence has an input frame rate, said displaying being performed at a frame rate equal to said input frame rate.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said first and second image processing transformations are applied to different images from said input image set.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein said video sequence has an input frame rate, said displaying being performed at a frame rate double said input frame rate.

12. A method for displaying digital images on a display device comprising: (a) obtaining an input image set including a plurality of input images making up a video sequence having an input frame rate; (b) processing said input image set to generate an output image set including a plurality of output images, said processing including: (i) generating a first subset of said output images by applying a first image-processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said image-processing transformation causing a luminance distortion to at least one region of said output image relative to the corresponding region of the input image, and (ii) generating a second subset of said output images by applying a second image processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said second image processing transformation being different from said first image processing transformation; and (c) displaying said output image set in a sequence on the display device at a frame rate in excess of five frames per second, at least part of said sequence being displayed at a frame rate double said input frame rate, wherein said first and second image-processing transformations and said sequence are chosen such that a time-integrated average luminance in each region of the display over successive frames approximates to the luminance distribution of a corresponding region of said input image set, and wherein said first and second image processing transformations are both applied to at least one image from said input image set to generate corresponding output images from said first and second subsets, said corresponding output images being displayed in succession.

13. A method for displaying digital images on a display device comprising: (a) obtaining an input image set including at least one input image; (b) processing said input image set to generate an output image set including a plurality of output images, said processing including: (i) generating a first subset of said output images by applying a first image-processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said image-processing transformation causing a luminance distortion to at least one region of said output image relative to the corresponding region of the input image, and generating a second subset of said output images by applying a second image processing transformation to input images from said input image set, said second image processing transformation being different from said first image processing transformation; and (c) displaying said output image set in a sequence on the display device at a frame rate in excess of five frames per second, wherein said first and second image-processing transformations and said sequence are chosen such that a time-integrated average luminance in each region of the display over successive frames approximates to the luminance distribution of a corresponding region of said input image set, and wherein said at least one input image has a first number of distinct levels of pixel luminance, and wherein the display provides a second number of distinct levels of pixel luminance less than said first number, wherein said first and second image-processing transformations and said sequence are chosen such that a time-integrated average luminance in each region of the display over successive frames approximates to the distinct luminance levels of the input image.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said at least one input image is a color image including luminance data for each of three colors, said first image processing transformation operating on each of said three colors.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first image processing transformation includes a contrast enhancement transformation.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first image processing transformation includes an edge-detection transformation.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first image processing transformation includes an image sharpening transformation.